Silver Rain
by GolfingLioness
Summary: A H/Y oneshot taking place after the final episode of Season 7. On a rainy evening at the beach, Horatio finally confronts the feelings he'd tried to fight to no avail - and finds out that Yelina had been storing away the same emotions.


**Disclaimer: **None of the characters belong to me.

**Author's Note: **A loose CSI:Miami fanfic featuring Horatio and Yelina, set shortly after the final episode of Season 7, still before Season 8. I hope you enjoy reading! :)

**Silver Rain**

The night was heavy with moisture, thin clouds drifting across the velvety sky. The last pastel traces of the sunset were slowly disappearing above the ocean, highlighting the docile waves with a final shade of a golden glow; above the horizon, countless stars began revealing themselves to the few people lingering on the beach, and from the distance came the distinct beat of a Caribbean tune, accompanied by cheerful laughter.

A gentle breeze ruffled the wide leaves of the tall palm trees, swaying with the flame of a nearby torch before it went on to curl the low, white-foamed ends of the waves. Steadily, the moving water hugged the tiny grains of the sand and took them away into the ocean, turquoise by day and deep blue by night. Then a different wave came back, and the same motion repeated over and over, as if had consisted of only one movement, the few seconds captured into a bubble of eternity; the sound of the salty water was soothing, familiar to the man who knew not what the next day would bring.

The balmy breeze returned to grasp a lock of fiery red hair, dancing with it for a brief moment before the game was interrupted by a strong hand, sweeping back the strands the wind had enticed to follow its own silent melody. The puff of the breeze felt warm on his face, but Horatio Caine felt cold.

His striped blue shirt was crinkled from a long day of field work, the top buttons unbuttonned to loosen the collar's touch on his neck. His black suit jacket, albeit thin, felt heavy on his shoulders and sand specked the sides of his black shoes and the lower ends of his pants. He was holding the sunglasses in his hands, his blue eyes blinking into the thin, bright line that had remained behind as the sunset faded. His face was lined and weary, radiating tiredness; his thin lips were pressed together, adding a few rough lines to the corners of his mouth. The corners of his eyes were surrounded by finely-etched wrinkles, the reflective blue pools showing no feelings to the outside world.

He had taken on the task that had been offered to him years ago, but refused to show to the people he protected what it took of him. The difficult day that lay behind him reminded him again of everything he had lost after he had lifted the golden badge from a polished wooden table. Raymond, his brother. Tim, his CSI. And Yelina Salas, his brother's wife.

How much did he have to lose before it was finally enough? He thought he knew the answer – but it was the only truth Lieutenant Caine had ever hidden his face from.

"Horatio?"

At the sound of her voice, he turned around and saw her wading through the shallow water, clutching a pair of white sandals in her right hand. She wore a flowing white dress, the breeze toying with the hem and letting it flutter around her knees. Her rich brown curls cascaded to her shoulders, framing her evenly tanned face; as she walked closer, he instinctively stepped towards the tideline to meet her, stopping just a foot away from the white-tipped waves. He let his blue eyes wander across her face, meeting her light green gaze and forcing his mouth into a slight smile.

But he could not fool her – he watched a frown form on her tanned forehead as she stopped a few paces away from him, her feet still in the water; always, she could glimpse the man behind the mask even if it was pushed into the darkest corner of his heart. She could read the eyes that revealed nothing to the world, she knew what was on his mind even though she only saw her own image in the cerulean blue pools.

_And I lost her ... I let her slip away from me, not willing to admit to myself and to her what I was feeling. And now ... now it's too late._

He caught himself staring back at the horizon as his inner voice echoed inside his mind; it was not often heard, for Horatio never listened to his heart above his mind. But sometimes, his deepest yearning and regret broke through, urging him that it was not yet too late. But it was – his mind told him it was, and Horatio gave in to the decision in its voice.

Composing himself, he looked back up at Yelina; he knew she wanted to ask what was wrong, but he spoke first. »Yelina? What are you doing here?«

With a slight smile, she waved her hand in the direction the Caribbean music was coming from. »I dropped Ray Junior off at his friend's birthday party earlier in the afternoon. He asked me to pick him up shortly after sunset, so I thought I could take a stroll along the beach until he calls.« She paused as she looked back into his eyes, her green gaze now mildly inquisitive; for a moment, silence spread its wings above them.

There had been many such silences before; they had stared intently at each other before, both trying to say the same words, to describe the feeling each of them had harboured for so many years. But they had never said it, feeling the eyes of Raymond's ghost on their faces. He was still there, pulling them close, and yet so far apart. Their electrifying gazes had always been trying to draw their bodies together, as if attracted by a strong magnetic force. During one of the lengthy silences, Horatio could not let his arms rest any longer; he let them twitch and move, gazing into Yelina's eyes. But then, suddenly, he saw Raymond's face instead of hers. Confronted by the cold gaze, he stepped back. Yelina had understood; and as the ghost appeared each time they were alone, she slowly started slipping away from him.

This time, she broke the silence after none of them spoke, each fighting the lumps in their throats. »Something's wrong, Horatio. Did something happen in the lab?«

Horatio's lips twitched into a thin smile, marvelling at her ability to see through the mask he had chiseled out of solid stone, inspecting it for cracks every time his self-control threatened to break down; no one had ever seen into his heart like Yelina did, seen the dark, ugly demons fighting inside. That had never scared her away – perhaps because she knew that Horatio's heart was fighting his mind because of her.

He knew not what to say – he could tell her about the case, about what had happened in the lab, but he knew that she wouldn't believe it to be the source of his weariness. He knew that she wanted to hear the truth from him, the truth he'd never been able to say ever since he watched Raymond slip a golden ring on her finger. After she saw Raymond's ghost between them, she went on and met other men, accepting them into her life to fill the dark, yawning void; Horatio knew. And he had no reason to believe, hope, that she felt the same – that she loved him as powerfully as he had always loved her.

A light touch drew him away from his thoughts; he glanced down at his hands, only to notice that Yelina had touched one of them with her own, gently squeezing it as if she wanted to encourage him to speak first. And then, the chains that had held him from saying the truth, chains Raymond's ghost had forged, snapped as if rusty.

»How much do I have to lose before it's enough, Yelina? I lost Raymond. I lost Tim. And ... I lost you.« He broke their eye-contact, glancing down at their hands. He could see Yelina's other hand dropping the white sandals onto the soft sand, returning empty to touch her skin to his. And then her heard her voice, soft and quiet.

»You never lost me, Horatio.«

He looked back up, studying her face with his blue eyes. Her words felt like fire in his heart, but it took him a moment to feel the warmth it gave as it engulfed the iron chains. The flames got into his bloodstream, carrying the warmth into his mind, where fire started nibbling at the doubts inside. He was close to losing his self-control, close to holding Yelina close and saying what he should have said so many times before; but he tried to ignore the scorching warmth, his hands still clutching his sunglasses.

Yelina offered him a smile, happy and sad at the same time; she spoke again quietly as she noticed that he would say nothing. »I thought you were lost for me.«

She looked down, exhaling shakily – she knew, as did Horatio, that her words had been too clear to avoid the much-needed heart-to-heart any longer. Letting go of his hands, she stepped out of the water and stood next to him on the soft sand, looking out at the glistening waves.

»Rick, he ... he was nice to Ray Junior. I felt he needed a father figure, and I didn't want to ... add another burden to what you already had on your shoulders. Ray Junior never liked him – and by the time I realised that I only wanted you to help us ... to be there for us ... you had already moved on. I was so foolish to think you'd be waiting. Rick saw through me, too – he found out that it was you I loved all along.

Then you married Marisol. And after she died, and you came to Rio, and Raymond died – it all happened so quickly. Julia came back, and you found your son. And then Frank Tripp told me you were dead ... you can't imagine what that did to me! And then you called me to meet you by the lake, and when I saw you, alive – I would do everything to help you.

Every time I wanted to confess to you what I'm about to say now, I saw Raymond where you were standing. I could tell you thought the same – it seemed like we'd never be able to forget Raymond being there as a part of our lives ever since we'd met.

I tried to convince myself that you still thought of me as your brother's wife and that you, of course, still loved Marisol. I didn't want to intrude on that, and decided never to tell you ... but I just can't hide it anymore, Horatio.«

She paused, and he noticed that she didn't look at him while she was speaking, looking out towards the horizon with stars sparkling in her eyes. What she said touched him deeply, the intensity of his gaze evaporating from his eyes, the blue chips of ice. It was replaced by a tender, soft one, and he made no effort to allow his mind to control his body as he reached out with his hand to hold hers again. He could see her leaning slightly closer, as if she too only wanted to let go, to hold him like he wanted to hold her. But she stayed where she was, speaking in a voice strained with emotion.

»I just want you to know that ... I love you.«

She bit her lip, looking up at his weary face. Horatio's blue eyes blinked, his head cocked slightly to the side as he shifted his weight. A lonely clap of thunder echoed above the ocean, and he could hear the voices of parents calling their children to leave the beach. Another puff of breeze captured Yelina's curls and caused them to brush against his cheeks, tickling the finely-etched lines; the strands were moist, leaving tiny droplets on his skin as the wind drew them away – it had started raining in bouts of fine spray, but Horatio had not even noticed.

»Yelina, I ...« At a loss for words, he closed the gap between them and pulled her into an embrace, resting his head on her shoulder. He could feel tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, threatening to slide down his cheeks and fall onto Yelina's evenly tanned skin. But they never fell – Horatio had learned long before to shed his tears on the inside, letting the torrent pour into his heart.

He, too, had confessed to himself that he might never tell Yelina what he'd always felt; holding her in his arms seemed like a distant dream, a feeling far away from the reality he'd built for himself. He had imagined hearing those words from her before, and always berated himself for claiming something that wasn't his – but never did he imagine that her voice, so soothing and quiet while she bared her heart for him, would embed such warmth into his veins; now, his mind silenced by his heart, he wanted to tell Yelina how she needn't have hesitated to call him if she needed help, if she needed someone to take care of her son. He wanted to tell her that he was always there for her, always ready to catch her if she happened to fall.

He wanted to tell her that he just wanted to give her some space after she came back from Rio with Ray Junior; but without him fully realising it, he was, if nothing else, neglecting his duties as an uncle and brother-in-law. He wanted to protect Yelina, give her some safety after everything Raymond had done – but he had foolishly believed that she didn't want another Caine in her life.

But he said nothing, holding her. He felt her brown curls tickle his cheeks, her hands running through his pale red hair, now already damp with rain. Running his hands up her arms, he felt goosebumps beneath the tips of his fingers – letting go of her, he pulled away slightly to take off his suit jacket, draping it around Yelina's shoulders. She thanked with a slight smile, but asked, »Horatio, won't you be cold?«

»No,« he replied, »No.« The warmth of her words was enough to keep him from feeling even a slight shiver when enveloped by a puff of cooler breeze sweeping from the ocean. Then, he finally spoke himself.

»Raymond will always be here,« he began, his heart giving an unwelcome jolt when he saw a flash of fear pass through her eyes. He continued quickly to erase her impression of what he was going to say. »But that doesn't have to pull us apart. Were it not for his undercover work, the many secrets he kept, I wouldn't have wanted to protect you as strongly as I had. Maybe I wouldn't have tried so hard to get to know Ray Junior, and get beaten by him at his favourite video games.«

Yelina smiled at the memories of her son and Horatio sitting together in the living room, Ray exclaiming heartily every time Horatio's part of the screen displayed the final statistics, often with a red 'You lose'. Seeing her smile encouraged Horatio to go on, briefly glancing down at his sunglasses before he looked back into her glinting green eyes.

»And maybe, if you hadn't married him, we'd have never met. And there would never have been a chance for us ... for me to tell you that I love you.«

Small droplets speckled Yelina's brown cheeks – whether they were raindrops or tears, Horatio couldn't say; they seemed silver in the moonlight, like the purest crystals of dew on the needles of the Everglades pines. He raised his hand, wiping them away gently and leaning forward to plant a soft kiss on her forehead.

By then, Yelina was smiling widely – the happiness was infectious and a smile soon settled in the lines at the corners of Horatio's thin mouth; it spread into a genuine, warm one, and again he pulled Yelina into his embrace, placing his lips against the side of her neck. He inhaled her scent, a perfectly-woven fragrance of lillies, dampened by the rain but still so clear in his head. He felt her soft hands in his red hair, drawing him closer. He felt warm puffs of her breath on his face, her voice whispering his name.

Finally, their lips met, neither of them aware that a pair of watchful eyes was looking on from behind a palm tree. He'd seen his mother walking down the beach in the last light of day, and decided to sneak up on her – but then he heard her speak to Uncle Horatio, about his father, Rick Stetler and Rio. The words were tangled by the breeze, but he heard clearly what she said; she said she loved Uncle Horatio. Smiling uncontrollably, Ray Junior decided to wait – but a few moments later, he couldn't contain himself any longer. He stepped away from the palm tree, slowly approaching them across the wet beach.

Uncle Horatio caught sight of him first, a look of surprise passing through his eyes. He whispered something to Yelina and she looked up too, noticing him with a startled look on her face; but he just beamed back and said as seriously as a twelve-year-old boy could, »It's about time, Uncle Horatio.«

Pulled away from the awkwardness, both Horatio and Yelina laughed as Ray Junior walked closer to embrace them both before skipping barefoot into the shallows, happily jumping about in flurries of spray. Still laughing, Horatio called out towards the silhouette of his nephew. »It's raining, Ray! You'll be wet.«

Ray turned back, feigning disappointment, »Oh come on, Uncle Horatio! It's not dark yet, why don't you come in too?« Briefly running back onto the sand to pick up a ball someone had forgotten nearby, he tossed it to Horatio through a veil of fine drizzle. The Lieutenant caught it, passing it to Yelina as he knelt down to take off his black shoes and roll up the legs of his pants. Stepping into the shallows, he looked back at Yelina and offered her his hand. »Are you coming?«

With a wide smile, she stepped closer and took his hand. »Yes.«


End file.
